Watch When Night Falls For Free

Truly Dreadful Film

To me, this movie is perfection.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Another horror thriller with nurses in their starch white uniforms and caps in a country house in New Zealand in 1932. Newspaper headlines flash across the screen, nurse killed by maniac; then a second and a third. Louise and Martha are taking care of an invalid patient, by themselves, and despite locks on the windows and doors, objects move and strange noises emanate through the walls. The groundskeeper has left for the night to pick up an oxygen tank and will not return 'til morning. Director Alex Galvin tries his best to be Alfred Hitchcock, with shadows and quick shots of the terrified women screaming and jumping at every unexplained sound. He is not the great Alfred and When Night Falls is not Psycho. The good news is that the thing only runs eighty minutes. Do yourself a favor and rent a Hitchcock DVD instead.

Shot digitally on a budget, this thriller from New Zealand manages to be intriguing enough until the last 20 minutes. The film doesn't lose any time establishing the premise. Our protagonist Louise is a nurse. She takes care of an ill patient in an isolated mansion, who will require more oxygen. This forces the groundsman to leave the mansion. The doctor has other things to attend to and this means Louise will have to spend the night there with the house Mrs. Jacobs, the housekeeper and another nurse, Martha Davis. Three women and a weak man spending a night in such a remote location shouldn't be a problem. Except there is a serial killer on the loose. And he happens to target nurses. These events take place in 1932 and for the most part, first-time writer/director Alex Galvin goes for a nostalgic feel half way between Hitchcockian thrillers and slasher films from the late 70s and early 80s. Except he doesn't have the directorial skills of the masters of old and it shows here. The result looks more like a humorless take on the game Clue, or a murder mystery you would play out with friends, then a legitimate thriller.The setting, it must be said, is amazing. The old mansion is truly gorgeous and very evocative. It has been pointed out to me by another user that the director actually shot the movie in several different houses, choosing rooms as suitable and as evocative as possible.The acting on display here is pretty weak. Tania Nolan as the protagonist nurse has the pretty face and angelic look but is pretty wooden. The other main actress is the other nurse, played by Rosella Hart. The housekeeper and the ill patient have very few scenes and not much is demanded of them acting-wise. The first two-third of When Night Falls rely on good old suspense. The night falls, there are noises, there is tension, things are not right. There's no action scene here. Just interaction between the characters and walking around this gorgeous residence while contemplating how best to spend this night, hoping the killer is not around. Things pick up in the last third, where the tension heightens. Unfortunately, the movie becomes even more horrendous. As Galvin reveals more and more of the mystery, our reaction as the audience is "huh, that's what is going on?". The music score, which was weak and over-dramatic from the start becomes unsustainable. As the film focuses less on the unknown and the fantastic mansion, Galvin has to direct real thrilling scenes and fails. The action sequence are of the worse amateurish kind and our two main actresses may be very pretty, but become terribly unconvincing. I'm disappointed. As I write these lines, this movie is rated a very good 7.2 with seven reviews, most of which are glowing and praising various aspects of the film which obviously deserves none of that. When Night Falls seems like a labor of love by a group of amateurs and there is nothing wrong with that. I'm sure Galvin did his best. He established a nice air of suspense early, adopted a classic feel instead of cheap modern clichés and used a jaw-dropping film location. But the actual direction, cinematography, music, acting and the story? It's all weak. An honest rating could hardly go above 5 and I personally feel it is worth a 3.

When Night Falls is almost a Jekyll and Hyde kind of film.After a great little prologue, the first half is very slow and atmospheric. Apart from getting to know the characters, not a lot else happens.Then, in the second half, all hell breaks loose! There's lots of scares, actions, twists...everything!!I really loved the second half, but personally did find the buildup of the first half too slow. I can see that the director wanted us to get to know and care about the characters, which is great, but a few boo moments or something would have helped to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.So: First half - 5/10 Second half - 10/10 Overall - 7/10

Saw a test screening of this a few weeks back and absolutely loved it!! It had the best acting of any Kiwi film I've seen in a long time and there were some really great scares and twists! The second half of the film, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. And the ending completely blew me away!! The 1930s sets and costumes all looked authentic and I never would have guessed that the film was made on a relatively low budget. Also the music was the best I've heard from any film in ages. It was beautiful but also really scary when it had to be. All in all, this is one of the best thrillers I've seen in a long time, not just from New Zealand but anywhere. Though if you don't like getting scared, it may not be for you.Really recommend it!